Team Rios Disregard Bradley/Atlas Union As A Factor

By Jake Donovan

There are many interesting sidebars to the upcoming welterweight title fight between Timothy Bradley Jr. and Brandon Rios. Their bout takes place November 7 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, with HBO to televise as part of its World Championship Boxing series.

Ironically, Rios is viewed as the wilder fighter of the two yet is actually far more consistent. He is who he is in the ring – a no-nonsense slugger who boxes when he has to, but lives for the knockout. He’s had the same trainer (Robert Garcia), manager (Cameron Dunkin) and promoter (Top Rank) throughout his career, and there are no surprises when he gets in the ring.

Bradley is the polar opposite, having switched in all three areas (trainer, manager, promoter) once he hit the big time, including having fled from Dunkin less than two years into his having signed with Top Rank, with his wife Monica now in charge of his career.
 
While consistently boasting a shredded physique and known as the consummate gym rat, he is also unpredictable in the ring. Some nights he will box; in recent years he’s shown a passion for slugfests and on some occasions will forget that he’s allowed to play defense.

Perhaps his general lack of fighting style can be tied to the constant changes in his career, including his latest switch from longtime trainer Joel Diaz to the more popular – but not necessarily better – Teddy Atlas.

“It adds a new dimension to the fight,” Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com prior to Rios’ open workout held Tuesday afternoon in Riverside, California. “Timothy Bradley is a tremendous fighter. We don’t know what prompted the change, but maybe Teddy brings out something that we haven’t seen before in him.”

Whatever comes of the newly formed union, Rios and his team are preparing for every possible scenario in what they view as a must-win fight.

“We are not concerned with his change in a chief trainer, because Bradley always comes in top condition and is ready to fight,” notes Garcia. “Joel Diaz did a good job with Bradley.”

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox